Author's Note: This chapter follows on from Chapter 47: Moving On of my other story: Vengeance.
Saturday, November 5th, 2016
Chicago, USA
Northwestern Memorial Hospital
Room 32
Stephanie had ventured into the city with Shannon before eight that morning.
There was a lot to get done during the day, but Stephanie did not want to miss visiting her best friend in the entire world. Shannon also saw Saoirse as a best friend but for different reasons. Stephane and Shannon got on well, despite the age gap. They both had something, or rather someone, in common.
"I spent months with Jamie and now I'm spending time with his big sister," Shannon commented.
"You can't stay away from us, can you?" Stephanie replied.
"At least you're not as annoying as he is," Shannon pointed out.
"I can be . . . Stormy."
"Steph!"
"Sorry – I'm in a weird mood."
"She's going to be okay – she always survives."
The girl in question opened her eyes and she smiled as she recognised her friends.
"Hi," she said simply.
She was obviously tired and strained. Stephanie knew what it felt like to wake up in the same dreary hospital room and then having to face another day of pain, drugs, people smiling, pain, drugs, people being nice to you, pain, drugs, and a bit more pain followed by some more drugs. Stephanie took a moment to peer under the duvet.
"How do I look, down there," Saoirse asked.
Stephanie's cheeks went a dark shade of pink.
"Just seeing if you were still plugged in," she said quickly. "I was just curious as I never saw what they did to me, but I did see Harper and wanted to compare. Looks the same really apart from Harper doesn't have any hair."
"Yes, I am still plugged in. I've not left the bed since I woke up here a few weeks back."
"How are your legs?" Shannon asked.
"Right one is painful – that's got the broken tibia, four inches below the knee. That's in plaster and is heavy. My left thigh is sore when I move but the bruising has subsided quite a bit. They say that I can try walking later this week."
"Great!" Stephanie announced.
"Yeah – really great news," Shannon added.
"Would you both be here when I try . . . please?"
Stephanie and Shannon both nodded. They could see the pain in Saoirse's eyes and they knew that their presence would give her the boost which she needed to push through any pain.
"Whatever it takes, SD," Stephanie replied with a cheeky grin.
"What she said," Shannon added. "You were there for the both of us, when we really needed you, so we want to return the favour."
"Thanks . . . I hate it in here. I miss you both. I miss my friends."
Shannon winced as Saoirse began to cry.
Later that morning
Training Centre Echo
Level 0 – Primary Training Area
The massed forces of Fusion stood around the raised walkway which surrounded the capacious mat.
Everyone was in their duty uniform with all carrying a sidearm. Even the animals were present – Wildcat included. Hit Girl stepped forwards with Kick-Ass. Behind them, Shadow and Jackal stood as their lieutenants, representing the authority within Fusion. Also, present, were Battle Guy and Hal. To the left, was Leopard Squad, currently led by Wildcat in lieu of the injured Foxtail. To the right, was Jaguar Squad, led by Petra. On the mat, facing the two squads, and their leaders, Panther Squad, led by Torment stood with the dogs, led by Eisenhower.
"Some of the more astute amongst you will have noticed the promotions. We welcome Shadow and Jackal to the rank of Commander where they will provide tactical support to the squads. That leaves gaps in the lower ranks, therefore, Petra and Foxtail are promoted to Sub-Commanders and in command of Jaguar and Leopard respectively. Then, I suffered a major lapse in judgement and promoted Wildcat to Senior Operator . . . along with Raven – who actually deserved it."
Laughter greeted Hit Girl's announcement and Wildcat scowled as everybody looked in her general direction. Once the merriment had calmed down, Kick-Ass stepped forwards.
"You may also have noticed a successor for Medic. We welcome aboard, Jennifer as SURGEON. She will head the Medical Support Department here. Please make her feel welcome as the newest member of Fusion. "We have also brought aboard three others who all participated in the battle with distinction. The Predators amongst you will know of Piranha. She will be a senior operator and she will head the new Cougar Squad. Her direct subordinate will be Stormtide. Stormtide will be replaced in Leopard by Fortune, another of our new members. The third new member of Cougar will be Ember. Over time, we will add more members to Cougar as they are promoted."
Kick-Ass stepped forwards.
"As many of will know, we fought a group of former Predators who we knew as Marauders," he began.
There was some very unpleasant murmurings and crude comments from most present, not just the former Predators.
"This afternoon, we will be taking custody of sixteen Marauders," Dave continued. "We have been asked to rehabilitate them. After a lot of thought, and discussions with senior Predators, we have decided to see to their punishment and rehabilitation. It will be hard on them, very hard, and we ask for all of you to assist. For most of you, masks will be worn whenever a Marauder is on deck. Certain of you are known to them, for varying reasons, and you will interact with the Marauders, unmasked. Now, we come to the unpleasant part. Any Marauder who attempts to escape will be dealt with most severely and lethal force is authorised to prevent their escape. Some of them will be happy to be rehabilitated but we are certain that some will not. This will be a long road but if it means that these sixteen youngsters can regain what is left of their childhoods and live to a good old age, we have to try."
"Psyche and Piranha will be leading the rehabilitation," Hit Girl went on. "If there are any volunteers who would like to help, please see either one of them. Now, we have a city to protect and we have a job to do. Jaguar will be deploying at eight tonight."
With that, Hit Girl strode towards the Command Bunker.
That afternoon
Safehouse E
Level 8 – Detention Level
"This level hasn't been used in decades," Mindy explained. "But it's the only place I could find that was both secure and where we could house sixteen troubled kids."
"Troubled?" Stephanie queried.
"Predators are troubled, right?" Mindy responded.
"I suppose we are, yes?" Stephanie replied, looking up at Lucy.
"I'd go along with that," Lucy confirmed.
The elevator 'dinged' as it stopped.
"Predator Level," Stephanie quipped as Mindy scowled.
"I'll be watching – you two behave and play nice with the other kids," Mindy chuckled as she pushed open the door to a monitoring suite.
"Ignore her," Stephanie said to Lucy. "She likes to be a funny bitch from time to time."
"You're fucking nuts, Steph!" Lucy laughed.
..._...
There were three spaces which were suitable for a very rapid conversion into secure accommodation and within that accommodation, sixteen youngsters awaited their fate.
There was a fairly equal split, seven girls and nine boys. The boys were all in the larger space, together, while the girls were split into two groups of four and three. The group of three girls included the still mildly simmering Willow who was still recovering from her injury, and the two other sixteen-year-old girls, Carrie Milligan and Kate Fincham. All three had been pressed into the First Intake, back in September of 2010, at the tender age of ten. The remaining girls varied between the youngest of all the recovered Marauders, eight-year-old Xiāngxìn Lau, through her eleven-year-old sister, Lin Lau, and onto the wounded Charlotte Grey who was twelve-years-old and Dakota Warlow-Davies who was fourteen-years-old. The boys varied in ages from twelve-year-old Jake Wistrum to sixteen-year-olds, Joel Burnell and Jay Hilton. In between, there was a pair of thirteen-year-olds: James Todd and Jesse Dolan, and four fourteen-years-olds: Kieran Brennan, Dylan Page, Ewan Campbell, and Lucas Charlton.
Lucy and Stephanie both ignored the mixed expressions that greeted them as they entered the communal space which connected the three accommodation spaces.
..._...
Throughout the early afternoon, the kids had been collected from their various prison accommodations, throughout Chicago, and brought to Safehouse K, blindfolded and via dubious routes.
At Safehouse K, they had each received an independent and very invasive strip search at the hands of Nightmare and Shadow. Each youth had then been transported to Safehouse E and their new accommodations – blindfolded, of course. None of them had taken to their new accommodations which were basic, to say the least, but they had limited privacy, hot showers, clean toilets, and no obvious guards.
All in all, it was much better accommodations than any of them actually deserved.
..._...
Jake Wistrum sidled up to Stephanie.
"Hi, hot stuff – how about you and me. . ."
The boy stopped talking as Stephanie seized him between the legs – he squeaked.
"Do you want to lose this pathetic excuse for a dick?" she growled.
"No," the boy squeaked as Stephanie's face went pink.
"Are you getting hard?" Stephanie hissed before she punched the twelve-year-old in the stomach and she took his legs out from under him. "Dirty fuck!"
"Is there. . ." Jake coughed. "Any other kind. . .?"
"That is a prime example of behaviour which will not be tolerated!" Stephanie shouted. She was angry, and she recognised minor embarrassment in some of the faces before her. "Most of you will know who Lucy Ford is, and some of you will know who I am."
Stephanie ignored the very unfriendly glare from Willow as she continued in an angry tone.
"Over the years, you have all been hurt and you have all been forced to do bad things. All of you have killed and I know that some of you regret your actions – deep down. Now, I don't give a flying fuck if you detest Lucy, here . . . or if you want to kill me – everybody wants to kill me; I'm used to it. Anybody wants to damn well try; I'll take the bastard on and I will fucking tear them limb from FUCKING LIMB!"
Stephanie took a deep breath as she forced herself to calm down.
"I won't demand respect from any of you, however, I am one of those who will be watching your progress and I will be part of the team who will decide if any of you dumb fucks should be allowed out of here, this side of forty. Another thing; you will each be tagged."
That generated muttering.
"That is not negotiable. Don't try to remove them, either. Hit Girl designed them, herself. However, should you feel you won't miss your left foot then, please, go ahead and remove it. Now, Lucy will hand each one of you a bag. Inside that bag you will find three T-shirts, three pairs of shorts, six sets of underwear – boxers for the boys and boy-shorts/sports-bras for the girls – six pairs of socks, two pairs of trainers – running shoes for you Yanks – two swimsuits: one piece, no bikinis, two pairs of joggers, and two sweatshirts. Now, you all have twenty minutes to go get your sorry arses changed and to report back here. You are here under punishment, so expect a lot of crap over the next few weeks. You fuck up, we hand you over to the Federal Government – they want to try you idiots as adults and then incarcerate you in an adult jail. We are here to give you all a chance at enjoying what's left of your childhood and the rest of your godforsaken lives. Have I got your full attention, now?"
There were muttered 'yes' comments.
"Well?" Stephanie yelled. "FUCKING MOVE!"
Even the sixteen-year-olds bolted for their bags and ran back to their accommodation.
Training Centre Echo
Level 4 – Exercise Area
The location had been carefully selected due to its proximity to the Training Facility, more specifically Level Four.
The route for the kids was short and would be of no use to them should they wish to escape their enforced captivity. The sixteen Marauders were lined up bedside the climbing wall. There was a mixture of awe and concern as they looked around the enormous space. Over to one side, beside the #1 vehicle elevator, a small portacabin rested. One at a time, each Marauder was taken into the portacabin by a male or female vigilante where they met Surgeon and were then fitted with their ankle monitor during a brief medical check-up.
Carrie Milligan was sixteen-years-old and one of those taken in the First Intake. She knew Lucy from first-hand experience. She could remember the girl who had controlled them. Now she was much older, but obviously still a bitch. The girl pulled her sports-bra back on after the humiliating medical – she was used to them; she was a Predator. She laughed at herself – she was no longer a Predator; she was a Marauder and she was not about to let her life be decided by Lucy, nor that jumped up ten-year-old bitch. After pulling on her trainers, the American teenager placed her left foot on a chair as indicated and a masked girl secured a black ankle monitor to Carrie's ankle.
"Don't try to remove it," the masked girl advised in an electronically enhanced voice.
"I won't!"
"Thank you, Carrie," Surgeon said as she looked over towards Hal who ignored the other girl's attitude.
Hal was armed and there to protect Surgeon should anything get out of hand. As far as the sixteen-year-old veteran vigilante was concerned, the Marauders could all rot in cells for the rest of their miserable lives. She had several of them marked as trouble-makers already and as such, Battle Guy and Ember were watching the sixteen kids, like a pair of hawks observing their potential prey, from the Battle Bunker three stories above them.
..._...
Carrie was jeered by her fellow Marauders when they saw her appear with her new ankle accessory.
However, the jeering was short-lived as Dakota Warlow-Davies was ordered in the direction of the portacabin. The fourteen-year-old was watched from a few yards away by the masked form of Wildcat. The body language of the young vigilante was enough for the Marauder known as Firebrand to behave herself. Dakota was one of those who had decided to get her life back on track – whatever it took. None of the remaining Second Intake girls had survived – that she knew about, anyway. Three of the original nine girls were dead – one at the hands of that jumped up ten-year-old out there. One of the original nine boys was also dead, while another was a Marauder awaiting his fate just like she was. Four out of eighteen kids dead. However, Dakota had no idea that four more girls were accounted for, three in Chicago and one in San Diego along with another boy from the same intake.
There had been a lot of talk amongst the Marauders, once they had been allowed to mingle. There were some outspoken ones that wanted to escape, and Dakota had identified six trouble-makers. She had no idea what to do about them – she could not turn on them and tell, however, they could fuck it all up for everybody who wanted their lives back. Dakota, for one, never wanted to handle a weapon again, much less take another life. She was not alone in that sentiment, either. The Police had treated her like scum – but they were right; she was scum.
"You must be Dakota," Surgeon announced as the girl entered and closed the door behind her. "Strip to the skin, please."
Without a word, Dakota pulled off her clothing.
..._...
As the Marauders emerged from their medicals with their ankle monitors fitted, Psyche directed them onto the track for six laps each.
Part of the security was to keep them tired and exhausted – a Predator had a lot to give, even when exhausted, but not when incarcerated with nowhere to go. The youngster knew that some of those present would try to escape – it was in their blood and totally expected. The only question was when. Psyche knew that with her own training, things could have turned out differently and she could be one of those running around the track wearing a tracking monitor around their ankle, not knowing what lay ahead or if they might ever be free again. Part of her had sympathy for them – after all, they had had no choice when they had been pressed into service as preteen assassins. Only, they had had a choice when it came to becoming a Marauder. Only, their bloodlust would have controlled them. FEAR had offered them unlimited killing – something a Predator lived for. The temptation to join FEAR had been impossible for most to ignore.
Goddamn Urban Predator! Goddamn FEAR!
..._...
The two Seventh Intake girls had gone together - they were sisters, after all.
"Hello," Surgeon said.
The youngest Marauder was Xiāngxìn and she was only eight-years-old. Her sister, Lin, was just eleven-years-old. Neither girl fitted the image of a Marauder. Surgeon was certain that both girls had just been caught up in the situation. Indeed, both girls had surrendered rather than fight which was a positive mark for them both.
"If you would rather be seen individually, please say so," Surgeon advised the two youngsters.
"It is fine," Lin replied for both of them and her younger sister nodded.
"Okay, strip to the skin, please."
..._...
As they completed the six laps – 2,400-metres – they were each given a bottle of water and allowed to sit down to rest for a few minutes as their colleagues joined them.
The final Marauder to be seen was Jake, the youngest boy. Psyche knew that the boy was going to be trouble – the permanent shit-eating grin on his face said it all.
"Wistrum!" Psyche called out.
"Yes, ma'am!" the boy called out as he jumped to his feet.
Psyche just chuckled as she led the boy over to the main elevator.
"All of you, here!" she ordered and the remaining fifteen headed over.
Psyche took the bottle off the boy and threw it into the crowd of Marauders where a boy caught it.
"Wistrum, press the call button for the lift."
"Okay," the boy replied as he pressed the button and he immediately yelped.
"What happened, shit for brains?"
"I was shocked by my ankle monitor," he explained with a frown.
"Press the button again."
Wistrum winced as he followed instructions.
"Yaaah!"
"That shock was stronger, yes?" Psyche laughed.
"Yes."
"Press the button again."
Wistrum shook his head.
"The boy is a quick learner!" Psyche pointed out. "Press the button or we fit the monitor to that tiny dick of yours."
The boy's hand trembled as he reached out for the button and he pressed it.
With barely a sound, the boy crumpled to the ground as his legs folded beneath him. He glared up at Psyche, tears in his eyes.
"That was the first three levels – the monitor goes up to level eight. Jake, would you like to see level four?"
"No, ma'am," the boy replied in almost a mumble as he struggled to his feet, his left leg partially asleep.
"All of you, another lap," Psyche ordered as the Marauders laughed at Jake, although their expressions showed concern.
A few hours later
Safehouse E
Level 8 – Detention Level
The sixteen kids were all but dead on their feet as they were finally released back to their accommodation.
It was easy to tell those kids who were not quite as fit as the others. Stephanie and Lucy followed them back.
"All of you – shower and get yourselves ready for bed. Food will be delivered in forty minutes. You will eat and then you will hit the sack," Lucy directed.
"No late-night TV?" Willow asked sarcastically.
Lucy walked up to Willow and just shook her head. Willow wisely backed down and stalked off for her shower. Forty minutes later, sixteen ravenous kids were seated at a long table with eight chairs on each side. Stephanie was standing in a corner, watching and ensuring that everybody was behaving. They each wore T-shirts and shorts, and most were barefoot. They all looked tired and Stephanie was pleased to see that some of them showed signs of having been crying. Lucy appeared just then, with Shannon and Sarah in tow. Neither were masked, and both received some nasty looks from several of the Marauders present; especially from Dylan Page and Kate Fincham, both of whom had enjoyed bating Shannon during her early weeks as a Predator.
"I don't give a flying fuck what you bastards think of me – however, if you want to eat then you'd better be nice!" Shannon growled as she passed out double-cheeseburgers and chips to all those present.
..._...
After ensuring that they had eaten, Shannon and Lucy ensured that each one of them made it to their bed.
Not surprisingly, all sixteen fell asleep within minutes of their heads hitting the pillows. After a brief check to ensure that they were all safe, the accommodation was secured. And the two girls headed up to their own accommodation for the night.
Elsewhere that same evening
Goose Island
Almost the moment that the Marauders had begun to eat, Stephanie had bolted over to Safehouse F and she had finished off preparing for her first night out on the town in a while.
It was suitably dark as she hit the streets alongside her partner for the evening. Psyche was an old hand with her red over blue Honda CRF250L motorcycle. On a scarlet but otherwise identical machine, her fiery friend, Fury, rode beside her. The pair had been trusted to go out alone – well, with backup about two minutes behind. Backup for the night was Hit Girl on her Ducati Superbike 1199 Panigale R and Shadow on her Ducati Superbike 899 Panigale.
The two girls rode side-by-side down North North Branch Street. Most of Goose Island was given over to commercial and industrial activity – the manmade island was also somewhere which produced a different product after dark. They took a right up North Cherry Avenue and proceeded past the factory and commercial units.
"This is fun, right?" Fury commented.
"It's great to be out," Psyche agreed.
For Fury, it was good to be out with her new friend. Not that long ago, she would never in her wildest dreams have ever expected to be out on patrol as a Fusion vigilante, let alone with her single most hated person on the planet, Psyche. Somehow, Psyche had gone from most hated person to most revered friend.
"Look!" Psyche called out as they approached West Division Street.
Fury followed her friend's pointing finger and she grinned as she saw activity in the darkness over to their left. She pulled up beside her friend and they both dismounted, removing their helmets as they did so.
"Battle Bunker, Psyche – Fury and I are checking something out."
"Copy that," Hal replied. "Stay safe, kiddies!"
Psyche scowled behind her mask, but she ignored the jibe. She waved Fury forwards and they both climbed then threw themselves over an aluminium mesh gate.
..._...
There were four men becoming visible as they moved slowly through the shadows.
Each carried their melee weapons ready to engage the enemy. Fury held up her double-ended bō-staff while Psyche had her twin Sais to hand. The four men were large and well-armed. One of them appeared to be talking to a fifth man who had not been visible until they had come closer. Psyche recognised the man from somewhere, but it took a moment for his identity to click in her mind: Worm. The man was Hit Girl's number one snout. That fact was known by many, but it was also well known that Hit Girl protected her snouts. You took on one of Hit Girl's snouts, you took on Hit Girl and basically signed your own death warrant.
Psyche moved closer while Fury kept her eyes open and covering her friend's back for any other men they had not seen. Psyche's eyes narrowed as she saw the obvious signs of distress on the man's face including blood on his clothing which appeared to have originated from his nose. The man was being interrogated. Psyche's measure of the situation was accurate as she watched Worm being punched in the stomach and then slapped around the face. The man was tough, Psyche thought; no wonder her Mum spoke highly of him. Psyche also knew that without Worm, some very unsavoury people might still be alive in Chicago.
"Hit Girl, Psyche."
"Go ahead, Psyche," Hit Girl replied.
"Worm is in trouble. Permission to engage."
"Go – stay safe . . . both of you."
..._...
The men were intent on their target and nobody was watching their flanks.
Fury swiftly jumped onto a small container and then onto the roof of the building. She deftly ran towards the edge above the men while Psyche remained on the ground, circling into the darkest part of the facility. Both vigilantes awaited their moment to strike.
"Do you know who I work for?" Worm hissed as he spat a glob of blood onto the ground.
"Oh, yeah," a man growled. "We know – only, the purple bitch ain't here."
"There is nothing that can save you, Worm," another man chuckled.
"We need information, and only. . ." the first man began, but then he paused.
"What's up, Benny?" the first man asked his mate as Benny swayed slightly, his eyes glazing over.
Benny tried to speak, but a look of incredible pain crossed his face and he faltered, sagging to his knees. There was a shocked intake of breath from the three other men as a masked vigilante appeared from behind Benny, a pair of bloody swords in her gauntleted hands. Psyche kicked Benny to the ground.
"Howya doing, cunts!"
There was a mad scramble for weapons with one man deciding that the better part of valour was making a clean escape while you were still alive. Only, his escape was blocked by another masked vigilante who seemed to drop out of the darkness before slashing him across the chest with her bō-staff. The man screamed as his blood splashed across the ground and he fell into that same blood. A quick stab from the opposite end of the bō-staff and the bastard never moved again. Fury ran forward to assist her friend who was comfortably driving a Sai into the heart of another man with seemingly little effort. Fury drove her bō-staff into the remaining man who fell to the ground, her blade still embedded in his chest cavity.
"Problem?" Psyche asked.
"It's stuck!"
"Twist it, slightly," Worm suggested as he rose up from his knees.
Fury did so, and her blade came more easily out of the corpse.
"Thanks – I think," she muttered.
"You, okay?" Psyche growled in her electronically enhanced voice.
"I am now," Worm chuckled. "Thank you – both of you."
"How did you get yourself wound up with these dicks?" Fury asked in her own electronic voice.
"There is trouble afoot, my young vigilantes," Worm warned. "FEAR may be gone, but nature abhors a vacuum, and someone will always fill the void."
"Cryptic," Psyche commented.
"I've spent too long talking with Hit Girl," Worm mused. "She's cryptic as hell."
"That she is," a voice growled out of the darkness.
Worm chuckled.
"My Queen," he said in welcome as Hit Girl emerged from the darkness.
"What's with all the bodies?" she enquired. "Can't I let you two girls out into the city without you making a mess?"
"They were in our way," Psyche replied with a shrug of her shoulders.
"Be off with you, while I have a word with Worm," Hit Girl growled.
..._...
Shadow was waiting for them beside their motorcycles as Fury and Psyche arrived.
"Having fun, girls?" she asked.
"Bit slow," Fury commented as she mounted her motorcycle and pulled on her helmet.
"Yeah," Psyche acknowledged as she did the same.
"Stay safe," Shadow warned as they both sped off into the darkness.
Safehouse F
"That was brilliant fun!" Abigail announced as she pulled off her helmet and mask.
"Had fun, huh?" Megan asked as she took the two helmets from the younger girls.
Returning vigilantes always got looked after and Megan enjoyed looking after her niece.
"Thanks, Megan," Stephanie said as she and Abigail passed through the armoured glass shield and through to the training centre next door in Safehouse E.
After they each showered, they dressed ready to go home – both were very tired, however, they had to wait for Mindy to return before they could leave – they would drop Abigail home on the way. While they were waiting, they both headed up the Battle Bunker.
"Hi, Abby!" Stephanie called out.
"Hi, Steph," Abby replied.
"Where's Rachel?" Stephanie asked as she looked around.
"She took off about an hour or so ago – she's been a bit maudlin since her former friends appeared," Abigail explained. "Oh – Mindy's back."
Stephanie watched as Hit Girl and Shadow rode into Safehouse F and stopped.
..._...
They found Rachel down a corridor on Level 1.
"Rachel – you're spending the night in this place," Stephanie announced as she pulled the older girl to her feet. "You're coming home with me."
Rachel made to argue but Abigail just shook her head. Stephanie dragged Rachel off to find Mindy who was just leaving the changing rooms with Chloe.
"Mum, can Rachel stay with us, tonight?"
Mindy chuckled at the big, ingratiating smile on her daughter's face and she nodded.
"Of course."
Glenview
Stephanie pulled Rachel bodily into the house where they found Jamie in the living room.
"Hi, Rachel!" the boy called out, sounding a little surprised to see her.
"You can sleep in my bed – you're not sleeping with my brother!" Stephanie quipped.
"Done that!" Rachel laughed but then she rapidly rephrased as she saw Stephanie's eyes narrow. "We've slept in the same bed – and while we have been naked together, we have never . . . you know. . ."
"I should think not!" Stephanie growled as Jamie's face went very pink.
..._...
Stephanie awoke some time later to find herself alone in the bed.
Her Predator sense told her that something was wrong. She checked the bathroom – it was empty. The bedroom door was open, so Stephanie headed out onto the landing where she peered down into the living room from the library.
"Oh, shit!" she muttered as she ran down the stairs. She found Rachel in the living room. The girl sat on the couch, a pistol in her right hand.
"Rachel," Stephanie began. "Don't . . . please."
Rachel looked up at Stephanie and she forced a weak smile.
"I hate my life – I hate what I was – I hate what I've become – I can't be like this."
"You don't want to do this, Rachel. Jamie has told me a lot about you, and as far as I can tell, this isn't you. Jamie says you never take the easy route. He says you are passionate and brave. What you are about to do is cowardly."
"Why do you care?"
"I care because of what you did for Jamie. Up until a few weeks ago, I battled with the demons of killing my own parents and my little brother. Then I discovered that he was alive and back in my life. Without you, that would never have happened, and I would never have known that I did not actually kill my own brother. I owe you more than anything – not just because you saved my brother's life, but you also save my life."
Rachel did not respond as she stared down at the pistol and gripped it even tighter.
"Please, Rachel – don't put me in the position where I have to tell my little brother that you have taken the cowardly way out . . . with my own pistol. You are as much a part of my life as Jamie is."
"I hurt you. I was one of. . ."
Stephanie cut her off.
"I don't care that you were part of that group of girls who raped me with that baton. You've met SD – she was my Nemesis. She was sent by the CIA to kill me. For a while, we went back and forth trying to kill each other . . . but she's now my best friend and I cannot even consider life without her. She's been there for me whenever I've needed her, and in return, I have been there for her. If I can forgive her; then I can forgive you."
"I don't want to go back to being a Predator – I don't want that life."
"Then don't. That is what is so special about my life; I can choose what I do – I can choose when I kill. If I wanted to hang up my guns and live my life as a normal little girl, then I know that I would have the full support of my family and friends. I see no reason why you can't just choose that same option."
"What would Mindy say? Won't she expect me to become a vigilante like the rest of you? To pay my way. I saw what was happening to my fellow Marauders. I felt so guilty when I saw their harsh treatment at your hands – but then I felt even worse when I considered that I should have been down there with them, suffering, just like them. I made that choice. I made that conscious choice to become a Marauder. That makes me a bad person."
Stephanie shook her head – she had her work cut out.
"No – she respects choice. Have no fear, Rachel, Mindy is very special to me, and I love her more than anything. I also know that she loves me, just as much, and she has proved that, time and time again. You want her support – just ask. Since I left Urban Predator, I have learnt the importance of communication; you talk things through – it means a lot, I promise you. I even talk to my dog and the damn cat – must drive them nuts listening to me . . . come to think of it, maybe that's why they do such nutty things together. Anyway – just talk. If not to me, or to Jamie, then there are a lot of people who will sit down with you and just listen. Nobody will judge you for your past, or current, misdeeds."
Rachel thought that over for several minutes before she then she passed Stephanie the pistol, butt first. Stephanie swiftly removed the magazine and ejected the chambered round.
"You know – I would have been dead meat if you had blown your head apart. This thing was loaded with hollow-points and that wall would have turned red and grey with blood and bits of brain, not to mention a spattering of bone fragments," Stephanie pointed out. "I would have been scrubbing that damn wall for weeks!"
Rachel laughed – she could not help it – and she gave Stephanie a hug.
"Thanks, kid – you are so much like your brother; you both annoy the fuck out of me!"
"We do, don't we," Stephanie grinned, then she frowned. "How'd you find my pistol, anyways?"
"Stephanie, you're a Predator and I'm a Predator – we kind of attended the same schools."
Stephanie laughed as they both headed for the stairs. However, she hesitated as she caught sight of a slim shadow in the darkened kitchen. "I'll be up in a moment, Rachel."
"Okay."
..._...
Mindy loomed out of the darkness and Stephanie expected the sky to fall in on her.
"Well done, Steph. You never cease to amaze me with your talents. The way you talked that girl down . . . I'm really impressed and that's coming from Hit Girl!"
Stephanie beamed happily.
"I am never going to regret the day that Dave found you. I will never regret the day that we invited you into our little family. You grow in stature every day, Steph. Each day you mature and grow, you turn into a better person. Dave and I are really proud of you."
Stephanie couldn't think of anything to say, so instead, she just ran forwards and gave Mindy a big hug.
"Oh, yeah – I would have made you scrub each and every damn drop of blood off that wall," Mindy deadpanned.